Insurance Journal Forums

Any other insurance agencies out there use QuickBooks to manage your expenses and prepare end of the year taxes, or do you find it to be redundant with your agency management system?

I have always used quickbooks vs using the system built into my agency management system. I wanted ease of use, also I had very few surplus line policies, so I did not really need to tie in the management system with my accounting system. Yes everyone once in while there as double entry, but not much. I still use quickbooks for my new business and it works like charm. Actually I am using quickbook online with payroll and I know some may be hesitant to move to this version of quickbooks, but let's put it this way, I like quickbook more than ever now. Having said that, it depends on your agency, if you are going to do a lot of agency bill vs. direct bill, using the accounting built into your management system may make more sense. I have a number of vendors on my site who specialize in agency accounting, a consultation on this matter may not be a bad idea as I am not expert in this area.

Quickbooks is definitely the way to go because it's an all-in-one business suite. The system is integrated and offers great ease and convenience for users whether used for payroll, accounting or whatever purpose

Quickbooks will work well for expenses but you can end up messing your income statement and sales figures if you do both direct and agency bill. Possibly they have upgraded but using the 2008 and prior years it double booked income.

I have used QB online for 12+ years for agency bill, direct bill, payroll, CC acceptance etc.

The ease of use, accessible from anywhere via a computer, minimal cost of hardware to my agency and reporting by location/class etc. is very helpful.

My accountant pushed me into it years ago as the data downloads into Federal forms and dumps to the IRS very easily for the CPA.

Lastly, the customer portion of the system is getting better with retaining notes/conversations.

I also have heavily depended upon the Bank Reconciliation System to keep multiple bank accounts from getting double debited by insurers/ general agencies.

I enter the sales receipt and also physically enter a "check" which represents the debit to the bank account from the carrier for that customer. I know the correct amount and if any other amount is debited, the bank rec system dumps that information to be looked at further.

I do NOT get hit improperly by a company and typically find I made a mistake on the estimated debit.

Also keeps my employees from entering policies without depositing C/R as the Debit stands out if they have uploaded the app to the carrier.

I realize this is an old thread but I have yet to find a good way to book direct bill in Quickbooks. I'm thinking of switching to Applied or similar just to avoid the headache. Anyone have suggestions as to the best way to book DB policies in Quickbooks?

just as an FYI - the new agency platform from Quikfuzion.com will be announcing a tight integration with Quickbooks. That will handle the income issue with DB.

I've been thinking about using quick books for my agency. Can anyone comment on how well it works for managing payroll (1099 and W-2).

I also realize that this is an old thread however; I was interested to know if "Quikfuzion" did roll out integration with QuickBooks as stated in a 2013 post below? For those using QuickBooks for insurance accounting... has anyone found an accurate way to record and track direct bill transactions in QBs that does not require the purchase of automated software such as AMS360? Is outsourcing accounting considered an opinion?